Alternate Worlds Podcast

I met Teresa Johns at Serious Business, the first gaming startup either of us worked at, in 2009. Serious Business was an incredibly talented & well-curated team, and its members have gone on to become prominent VCs, CEOs, CTOs, COOs, technologists, artists, etc.Six months after we joined the company, we were acquired by Zynga, which had a very different ethos and led to very different types of adventures. I termed Zynga a “work bootcamp” and Teresa termed it “so much fun.”This dissonance makes me giggle.Since then, Teresa has been at some of the most important companies in modern life and has seen the evolution from “early whimsical fun” to “late-stage whimsical fun.”She has a truly unique & interesting perspective.If you have Teresa on your side, whether you’re a business or a human, you are noticeably better for it.As Mr. Rogers said, “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”That’s Teresa, to a T. Get full access to Alternate Worlds at bschneidmtg.substack.com/subscribe

Mark Schneider is a chess master who traveled the country to play in chess tournaments as a teen.He went on to parent three boys, all of whom played with him in the first Magic: the Gathering Pro Tour.The youngest, Jeremy, finished 20th in PT-Dallas Juniors.The middle child, Justin, finished 1st in PT-Dallas Juniors, and Top 8 at PT-Chicago ‘98.The oldest, Brian, is writing this to you now, and grew up to become one of the R&D leads for Magic: the Gathering.My dad is well-known as a bit of a character & as someone who enjoyed attending events and kibitzing with players from around the globe.He also invested in Magic & Pokemon for the fun of it, to support & play his own part in our evolution through TCGs, and has always had an entrepreneurial spirit.Thanks dad! Get full access to Alternate Worlds at bschneidmtg.substack.com/subscribe

Chris Galvin ran the first Midwest Regionals for Magic: the Gathering in 1996, and supported 1,300 players so well that when the time came, Wizards believed he’d be a good fit for their organized play department.Over time, Chris helped to support building out important regional events (such as Pro Tour Qualifiers) & the Junior Super Series — the kinds that couldn’t be supported by a normal game store — which led to a mature ecosystem of event operators working to support Magic: the Gathering events as a gateway to becoming a sport.Chris eventually graduated to oversee all of Organized Play (and later aspects of digital gaming at Wizards), and as you listen to him speak throughout this call, it isn’t difficult to see why — he’s warm, rational, thoughtful, and open-minded — and he loved games and has great empathy for those who play them.Chris went to The University of Chicago, but if you hear me say, “Go Bears” at some point during the call, it’s because he could’ve gone to Stanford.And anyway, it always applies.“Go Bears!”(Take that Greg Collins — who actually went to Stanford. Yeah!)Chris is a great storyteller with great stories to tell.Enjoy! Get full access to Alternate Worlds at bschneidmtg.substack.com/subscribe

Wright Bagwell makes games. He also tinkers, mods, hacks, manifests, errs, shares, and designs.I met Wright at Zynga, where he spearheaded the Farmville 2 design, which went incredibly well (like, incredibly, well). Before that he led the Dead Space series, and before that he made Quake mods, which got him into the industry in the first place.After that, he co-founded Outpost Games as its CEO, logged ample time at Google and Luda working on AI-native gaming, and most recently spearheaded design at Series Entertainment.Design can be exploratory, about discovery of what works, and the creative streams can cross and bob and weave and time or a sense of time can come and go.Wright lives at this vortex and leverages all he’s learned and all the toys and toolsets he can find to create new things to entertain and connect people. Get full access to Alternate Worlds at bschneidmtg.substack.com/subscribe

Sometimes there’s a man…Pany Haritatos has wanted to make games since he wanted to do anything, and because of this impulse he’s made a ton of games — big, successful, ones — for Kongregate, Zynga, Snap, Series Entertainment and who knows where else.Given Pany’s bent, his games could be anywhere.(And I mean anywhere.)Pany’s learned an inordinate amount about how to run teams and build successful businesses, shifting from builder to operator to CEO — he’s one of the best I’ve worked with in the digital space. Incredibly sharp cat.Really fun to catch up, to talk dad life & to consider what the future holds for each of us, and what we’ve learned from our adventures along the way.Namaste. Get full access to Alternate Worlds at bschneidmtg.substack.com/subscribe